Event Audience Generation: Make Your Event Stand Out Amidst A Flood Of Invitations

In 2023, nearly 98% event organizers planned to host at least one in-person event, 85% planned to host at least three, and 35% planned ten or more.⁽¹⁾ Clearly, there’s a corporate event happening at every turn. Consequently, every day, decision-makers are receiving an overwhelming number of event invitations, making them more selective about which events to attend. As a result, event audience generation is becoming increasingly challenging for organizers, despite their best event marketing strategies.

Having been in audience generation services for a long time, we’ve observed a significant shift in attendance rates. In the past, sending invites to 1,000 people would yield about 50 attendees. Today, that number has dropped to just 20—a remarkable 60% decline. With numerous distractions and competing events, how to improve event visibility and ensure that your event is the one people choose to attend? Read on!

Event Audience Generation Strategies to Stand Out

Here are some important strategies on how to attract attendees to an event and convert that interest into actual attendance.

1. Craft Focused and Defined Content

If you received two invitations on similar topics, one says “Join us for a discussion on digital transformation” and the other one says, “Discover how AI-powered automation can cut operational costs by 30%—with real-world case studies.” Which one would you choose to attend? We are assuming the latter one.

What we are trying to say is don’t create a generic invite. Audience building for events requires content that is laser-focused on a specific area or solution. Decision-makers want to know exactly what they’ll gain from attending. Clearly outline the takeaways in your invite and promotion collaterals—whether it’s insights on new industry trends, learning about innovative technologies, or actionable strategies. The more specific the benefit, the more likely your audience will feel compelled to attend.

2. Eliminate Potential Distractions and Hurdles

Attendees often skip events due to logistical challenges. Take into account the day, time, location, and conveyance. While there are no

hard and fast rules to eliminate all potential barriers, here are some helpful tips to mitigate them:

• Schedule events on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays which are typically less busy than Mondays or Fridays.
• Keep the event concise, ideally under three hours, to respect attendees’ time and encourage participation.
• Keep attendees informed with regular updates about the event schedule, speakers, and topics to maintain interest.
• Offer complimentary transportation services to the event venue to simplify logistics for attendees.
• Design your event in a hybrid format, so that attendees also have an option to participate virtually from anywhere.

We recently executed a successful 2-day, multi-city hybrid event for one of our clients. Read the case study to discover everything it takes!

3. Create a Sense of Exclusivity

People love to feel like they’re part of something exclusive. Whether it’s limiting registration to a select few, offering VIP experiences, or providing first access to new product announcements.

Here are some creative ways to promote an event through exclusivity:

• Host an event that is strictly invite-only, targeting selected top industry leaders and highlight that in your invite. You can say, “Join an exclusive group of 50 industry leaders for an intimate roundtable discussion on emerging AI trends.”
• You can organize a pre-event VIP dinner or cocktail hour where select attendees can network with speakers and industry influencers.
• You can offer your attendees to be the first to experience or purchase new products before they are available to the general public.
• Send personalized invitations that highlight the attendee’s specific interests and how the event aligns with their goals.

4. Highlight Who’s Attending

We all know the importance of highlighting notable speakers, but let us tell you that people are more likely to attend if they know who else from their industry will be there as audience along with them.

Promote the names of key decision-makers, influencers, or major companies that have already registered and confirmed their presence.

You can feature their names, designations, and company names alongside their photos in email invitations, social media posts, and even landing pages. This would create a sense of credibility and community, encouraging more people to register and attend your event.

5. Keep Your Event Brand-Agnostic

Brand-agnostic events often come across as more educational and unbiased. When events are overly branded, they can sometimes alienate attendees. By keeping the event neutral and more focused on the subject matter rather than your company, you can attract a broader audience.

So, instead of calling your event ‘XYZ Cloud Product Showcase’, make it about ‘Innovation in Cloud Computing: A Thought Leadership Event.’

Here’s a tip: To make your event come across as brand agonistic, you can partner with a respected forum or industry association. This shifts the focus away from your company and towards the subject matter and shared interests.

6. Offer Unique, Cutting-Edge Content

Kept the most important event audience generation strategy for the last!

Decision-makers get flooded with the same information over and over again. If your event promises to deliver something truly innovative, you’ll stand out. You need to engage attendees before the event by telling them that they can expect fresh insights that they won’t find elsewhere.

The most apparent way of doing this is that instead of standard discussions on any topic, delve into niche areas. So if your area of discussion is ‘Cloud ERP’ instead of keeping your focus broad, consider exploring specialized topics such as the integration of Cloud ERP with AI and IoT technologies, industry-specific applications for sectors like healthcare or manufacturing, data security and compliance challenges, case studies showcasing successful implementations, or future trends shaping the Cloud ERP landscape. You can also consider presenting any latest research findings that are not widely discussed or conduct a study or survey yourself and present its result in the event.

Read our other blog— Streamlining Audience Acquisition— to discover the primary challenges that hinder you from reaching your audience acquisition goals and tips on how to reach your event audience.

Conclusion:

With so many options available, people prioritize events that offer clear value and unique experiences, while many other invitations simply get ignored or overlooked. So, to make your event stand out, you need to enhance your event audience generation efforts by crafting focused content, eliminating potential distractions, creating an exclusive atmosphere, highlighting notable attendees, keeping your event brand-agnostic, and most importantly delivering unique content.

Remember, the goal is not just to increase event turnout; it’s to ensure that your audience feels engaged, valued, and eager to be part of what you have to offer.

FAQs:

What is the meaning of audience generation?

Audience generation refers to the strategic process of identifying, attracting, and engaging a specific group of people to attend an event. It involves various marketing efforts and techniques including targeted email campaigns, social media promotion, influencer partnerships, and content marketing.

How to make your event stand out?

Here are some tips to make your event stand out:

• Target a niche topic
• Highlight takeaways clearly
• Take into consideration the possible logistic challenges
• Make your event come across as exclusive
• Highlighting notable attendees and speakers
• Keep your event brand-agnostic
• Deliver unique content

How do you attract audiences for events?

To attract an audience for events, follow the below tips:

• Give clear and focused messaging about the event’s value
• Do targeted promotion through email, social media, and partnerships with industry influencers
• Highlight key takeaways
• Eliminate attendance barriers like day, time, transportation, mode of attending
• Offer exclusive access
• Promote notable attendees or companies joining the event
• Use engaging visuals, countdowns, and a clear agenda to build anticipation

How can I make my event special?

Here are some ways you can leverage to make your event special:

• Create memorable, personalized experiences for attendees.
• Provide exclusive content, interactive sessions, and opportunities to network with industry leaders or experts.
• Add elements like pre-event VIP meetups, unique giveaways, engaging speaker panels, and immersive tech experiences like VR or AR.